Klaus Von Bettstadt
BACKGROUND Klaus Von Bettstadt was the outlaw leader of Klaus' Gang from 1890 until his death in 1899 to the hands of John "The Quickfire Kid" Woodlock, during his troubled life he struggled with the concept of morality and empathy due to his upbringing. His life and career would be leave a legacy in history as an Old West Gang. 1870-1879 Klaus was born on a ship from Europe to America to Melissa Von Bettstadt, he never knew of his father. At a young age, Melissa and Klaus moved from the East Coast all the way to Texas in the hopes of building a small and comfortable life for the family. During this time, Melissa began a relationship with multiple men in the hopes of finding Klaus a father-figure, however each man was as abusive and manipulative as Klaus' father was before he ran away during the pregnancy. During a particular fight between Melissa and her boyfriend, Klaus intervened with a blunt knife, which resulted in him quickly being disarmed and the knife being turned on him, scarring his face. 1880 Although initially concerned about the next man who entered his house, Klaus was introduced to Adam Le fort, a second-generation Frenchman who excelled in wealth and smarts, together, Klaus and Adam bonded over hunting and fishing, yet Klaus only knew how to speak German while Adam was fluent in English, German and French. Through lessons taught by Le fort, Klaus became a prolific speaker in three separate languages while learning economy, business, manners, responsibility and leadership. He also learnt how to properly kill and skin an animal from Le fort. 1881 Melissa and Adam got married in Blackwater, however the reception was short on Melissa's end due to her very limited contacts in America, yet Adam brought acquaintances and friends to the wedding to give Melissa the opportunity to meet more established people of society such as Axel Woodlock and the Wicklow family. Here, Klaus first felt normal in the environment, as if he wished to live among the wealthy and famous. This sparked an ambition in Klaus' mind, one of a corrupted dream and lust of wealth and power, even if it means to hurt someone. 1881-1887 Klaus' ambition led him to commit petty theft in Blackwater, resulting in him being arrested multiple times and returned home to a disappointed family who scold him for his actions, each word of disapproval would translate to Klaus as if they are scolding him for getting caught, and not the morality behind it being deplorable. To set Klaus on the right side of the law and to make money, Adam brought Klaus to work with him in banking, such as writing down accounts and to clean the office for a small wage. Klaus enjoyed the work, yet at a young age found all the bookkeeping to be tiresome or headache-inducing. With the money, Klaus saved up to buy clothes, confectionery and ammunition for hunting, which he still partook in during his spare time with Adam. 1887-1892 During each trip, Klaus would establish traps to quickly kill animals in a small amount of time like the machines he heard of running on steam for all 24 hours in a day. With more and more money, Klaus began to take work less in banking and spent time hunting larger and more deadly animals such as bears, cougars, snakes and outlaws. The last one provided Klaus the most enjoyment as he got to ensnare and eliminate his bounties with ease, bringing back their remains for the money. Soon enough, Klaus took jobs from anyone who wanted someone to be killed, from lawmen, to bankers, to outlaws, Klaus had worked for and killed these men with laughter from their paycheck; Klaus had finally slipped into the dark past that haunted him for so long. Although Klaus did try to redeem himself through remorse and religion, it was no use, especially when he received a contract from a bank to burn down the illegal ranch on their land. When he saw his own home before him on the dark night's horizon, he didn't consider anything as the fire bottle scorched the walls of the house that raised Klaus and his demons. Even when he saw the charred body of his mother stumble outside of the burning house, he felt nothing, only happiness over the fact he would be paid. When Klaus returned to the bank to be paid by the hefty sum from the banker, he was instead faced by police inside the building. Klaus' happiness faded as rage and betrayal washed over him, leading him to draw his hunting knife and sink it into the heart of the nearest officer, quickly capitalizing on his newly-found shield by drawing the officer's revolver from his hand and firing at the officers inside of the building, striking with mechanical efficiency. With the officers dead, Klaus dropped his human shield and turned his gaze onto the door of the locked officer, and with an educated kick, broke the handle and latch off the door, allowing him to walk in to meet the frightened banker, who pleaded Klaus not to kill him and to take the money instead. With a crazed smile stretching across his lips, Klaus aimed the revolver in the face of the banker, quickly pulling the trigger, only to hear a soft slick of the chamber. With the scared yell of the banker, Klaus laughed at his fear and watched him squirm in his chair as he reached over to grab the money, making sure eye-contact wasn't broken. With the money lining his pockets, Klaus aimed the revolver one more time to the banker, who cowered behind his desk as Klaus left, laughing from the ordeal. 1893 Klaus, on the run, still took jobs from people in order to buy supplies and weapons, on one specific job, Klaus was contracted to burn down a ranch, as the rich owners of the ranch were threatening the local economy with their produce being more plentiful than local farmers. Klaus didn't hesitate to take the job, taking the job he went to the ranch in the middle of the day and observed the workers of the ranch. Lighting up a cigar, and a fire bottle from it, Klaus sneaked over a fence and to the barn, where he threw the first bottle, as panic erupted while the farmers tried to extinguish the fire, Klaus scaled the roof of the house and climbed in an open window, only to stand face-to-face with a shocked, blonde woman, who was quickly thrown to the ground by Klaus and choked to death, her red hat hit the floor from the impact. With the lifeless body below Klaus, he sighed with relief as he began to search for flammable bottles to ignite, while searching, Klaus found an old picture of the dead woman and her husband, he discarded the image with disgust as he found a small, metallic box under the couple's bed. In which, Klaus discovered roughly $30,000, smirking once more, he lit a bottle on fire, threw it into the room and climbed back out the window. Klaus' escape was noticed by farmhands, who quickly shot at the young man as he jumped from the roof and onto an unsuspecting man, who he once more, stabbed with his blade and used as a shield as he fired wildly at the others, striking many in the head and chest. With all immediate attackers dead, Klaus went around and stabbed any person who wasn't immediately dead before leaving the ranch by dusk. After completing the job, Klaus gathered many men who heard of his daring attack on a Blackwater bank, joining him on his journey into hiding, while killing anyone who followed his trail. 1893-1896 Klaus builds a large enough posse to protect him as he sets up camps in the wild, during this time Klaus was able to obtain the Mauser pistol fresh off the production line, in which he paid local gunsmiths to modify the weapon with engravings, gold, encrusted gems and to give it the ability to be fully-automatic. This pistol would later become the symbol of Klaus' distorted view on wealth and fame. 1897-1898 Klaus' posse searched for a home in The West, travelling long enough, they stumbled upon a home during the summer, in which they ransacked and fired at the ranchers to scare away. In the house, Klaus found a platinum pendant which he stole. Feeling unsafe about the area, Klaus let his posse rest there as he went and sold the pendant for more money. When Klaus arrived at a local fence, he was quickly found by remnants of his posse, who explained that the ranch was attacked by a gang calling themselves Brennan's Raiders, a gang hellbent on killing Klaus for something he did to their leader years ago, fearing for his life, Klaus fled to Saint Denis with his posse and had purchased a large home, which he decorated with the latest trends of European decor while his posse protected the premises and the streets of the city from bounty hunters. During this time, Klaus bought himself a small ship in order to net large amounts of fish and to move large ammunition when he needed to. During this time, Klaus developed a plan to himself in the case of breach by hunters which included him running to his boat and sailing downstream. During New Years' Eve, Klaus enjoyed the party in his home, which consisted with the few members of society who associated with Klaus' gang. However the party was quickly ended by gunfire from four men, who shook the building with gunshots killing posse members and party-goers alike, in a panic, Klaus ran towards his bedroom and jumped from the second-story window into a hedge to break his fall, with a moment of pain from the force, Klaus got to his feet and ran towards the pier, during the sprint he had twisted his ankle and it forced the outlaw to slowly climb onto his boat. Starting it up, Klaus refused to look back, believing he was safe, until sticks of dynamite ruptured the weapons cache and ammunition stored on the boat, with bullets tearing holes into the body of the boat, Klaus took a look at the group firing from the pier, and noticed their leader wearing the hat he saw on the woman he killed when he burnt down the ranch, with a strong resemblance to the man he also saw in the photograph, with little time to ponder and no other choice but to jump into the river, there, Klaus suffered from unconsciousness. 1899 By the early morning of the new year, Klaus awoke on the banks of Thieves' Landing, angered about the night before, Klaus staggered to the hangout of various outlaws who drew their weapons, but quickly holstered them when he offered money to those who would kill the Raiders. A group of men took Klaus up on his offer, and he told them to return to Armadillo in order to get paid. When Klaus came to town, he perched himself down in the local saloon and also hired a room to rest in, throughout this time, Klaus spent most of his days drunk and with women. Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months, Klaus was so drunk he couldn't remember even hiring gunmen or who the Raiders were, this blunting of his wits would prove to be his downfall. As his posse members found him, they quickly moved him from Armadillo to a camp nearby in which he stayed. In late June, after waking up from his 12-hour slumber, Klaus went into the local and was greeted by a sight which send sweats down his face; the man with the red hat, armed with two revolvers, Klaus, who needed a moment to breathe suggested that a duel to finally end the matter would be fair. And the man agreed. After a quick debate in killing the man with his Mauser or revolver, Klaus decided the latter would be more fitting against the violent outlaw. Standing back-to-back, the two leaders took their paces, and before the Raiders' outlaw could turn, Klaus took a quick turn and fired his gun, stunned, Klaus looked to see he was still standing, and on further examination, realized his revolver was empty. Klaus took the quick moment by running away from The Quickfire Kid as he darted towards the post office, however when he saw the tall, hulking native emerge from the door-hole, he braced himself for pain as his face was smashed against the wooden door, breaking some teeth as he fell to the ground. While barely conscience, Klaus felt his Mauser slip from the holster, cursing it as he was carried by the native towards the outlaw, pleading and attacking the native proved no use as he was dropped onto his stomach, bruising his ribs from the impact and winding him greatly. With angry slurs thrown towards the man in the red hat, it proved useless as Klaus was dragged and submerged into a local trough, where he attempted to raise his head from the shallow water in order to breathe, however, his enemy's boot held his head firmly down, and with the burning in his lungs, Klaus saw his flaws, his remorse returned for once in a long time as he saw his murders and his mother, with his last breath, Klaus apologized, but the words came out as the final air-bubbles. His body was hauled off to the local office in order to cash in the bounty and his Mauser was crushed by the brute who injured him, but Von Bettstadt's legacy did not end with his life. The remnants of Klaus' posse chased the Raiders as they traveled out of the West. However, without Klaus, the lack of intelligence lead to the posse quickly being eradicated from existence, yet Klaus himself was remembered as an old-school outlaw.